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Western Bulldogs ruckman Will Minson has been sent off during a VFL match at the Whitten Oval after allegedly shoving an umpire in the chest.
The incident occurred during the match between Footscray and North Ballarat.
A spokesman for AFL Victoria confirmed Minson had been reported and would face the VFL Tribunal on Tuesday night on the serious charge of contacting an umpire.
"Late in the second quarter, Minson had a shot for goal and started celebrating thinking that it had gone through. The field umpire has called it touched and informed him of that and when he did that, Minson pushed him in the chest and made umpire contact and the umpire has automatically red carded him," the spokesman said.
"Any umpire contact is seen as probably one of the most severe charges that automatically goes to tribunal."
[VIDEO] Vision of Will Minson's report earlier today for @FootscrayVFL. pic.twitter.com/YDziEFCXRe— Western Bulldogs (@westernbulldogs)
May 24, 2015
Veteran Minson, an All-Australian in 2013, fell out of favour with new coach Luke Beveridge earlier this season and he has been given no guarantees about coming back into the side as the Bulldogs enjoy a strong start to the season. Beveridge addressed Minson on the bench immediately after the incident.
The ruckman was sent off with five minutes to go in the second quarter, when a melee broke out, and he was unable to return to the field.
Footscray coach Ash Hansen refused to comment but general manager Ben Graham said: "We're waiting to get a couple of different angles of the footage before we can make comment on it. It was not a serious incident."
There was initial confusion about whether the Bulldogs could replace Minson on the ground. The Bulldogs also lost fellow big man Jarrad Grant at half-time when Grant was pulled to be on standby for the club's AFL match against Melbourne at the MCG later in the afternoon.
AFL-listed Bulldog tall Jack Redpath stepped his game up a notch in a five-goal haul, including four majors in the second half. Footscray powered to a 146-point win.
